Ben Wilhelmi

Lira, northern Uganda

 

in a previous post, I said that Lira was in central Uganda. That was by looking on a map. On this sign below, it says “northern region”…nevertheless Lira is a remote place where little seems to happen, even missionaries looked absent (that’s quite a feat!), but people seem to enjoy colors and show pride in their houses or shops. Colorful and clean part of the main street below.

 

 

typical wheelchair.

 

 

“tu veux sortir moi?”, literally “do you want to go out me?”…Uganda is English speaking so I wonder where that T shirt  comes from and if it is generally understood…(nevertheless the missing word)

 

cell phones are all the rage in Africa, the networks and coverage are developing fast. Even Masai warriors sometimes have one phone!

and these shoddy booths are very common to buy air time. But it is still a budget to use cell phones, so people have developed an annoying habit: the caller just flash calls and hopes the richer receiver (specially white) will call back…

 

 

banana mama

 

banana dada…dada meaning sister or a young girl.

 

chicken, still alive and probably not enjoying the ride

 

 

street vendor.

 

      

is he moving in with his girlfriend, or has been kicked out?

a street in Lira

 

 

these basic so-called studios are numerous in East Africa. Studio…usually a big word for what it is. Some expired films, crap unknown brands of batteries that won’t last, and except ID pictures, not much to be done in there. The bicycle is longer than the shop itself…But the paintings are sometimes worth a thought. Why Vienna, or Cobra…?

 

 

 

the whole main street is made of the same kind of colonial buildings and bright colors.

 

 

“karibu”…welcome in swahili, even spoken widely in Uganda. This kind of painted metal panel is also very common in East Africa.

 

this cute girl on a 2 wheel-taxi is atypical, probably some Asian background but the clothing and the fact that she travels like that is not Indian style in east Africa. I’d be curious to know.

 

no shoes, no rubber on the wheel…definitely a poor man.

 

 

for once she is carrying a very light burden. Even that light, the best way seems on the head.

 

4 on a motorbike.

 

 

chicken is very popular I’ve noticed.

 

 

tough life for these two I’m afraid…

Lira, Uganda

spiky haircut

 

 

goodies transportation, often funny

 

 

 

 

hard boiled eggs to eat on the spot, salt provided in the little plastic bag on top.

 

 

 

 

traffic jam…

 

 

thatch that will be used for roofing probably.

 

 

 

 

tired lady…

Lira, Central Uganda

 

just sitting and watching, with a standard lens on my camera.

 

he must have been the most stylish dude of the day.

 

 

street vendors are all over the places in Africa, also named touts, hawkers. Notice the fake 4 stripe Adidas shoes. Selling everything so that you nearly don’t have to go to the shops. Except that prices are usually shit high, specially for Whities. Today in Arusha I was for instance offered to pay 12$ whereas it is 6 in shops.

 

woman on bicycle, normal in Uganda, a lot lot less in Tanzania

 

champions to carry whatever burden…

 

 

I had mentioned my concerns with weapons on a previous post. Here is an example. At least this man slings the rifle around his shoulder in a proper way. But the uniform shows something, lack of money and so probably lack of training or care for the weapon. I saw another one, but couldn’t get a shot, a watchman carrying a similar rifle but all the wooden parts had disappeared! Convenient ergonomics…how does he shoot with that ancient thing, mystery.

 

 

crates of bottles, full! No fear!

 

typical vehicle for disabled. I’d say this man has suffered from polio, still a problem in Africa. Conventional wheelchair as in the West are pretty rare. Not convenient for the African roads and other tracks because of the small wheels in front. This contraption on the other hand uses a lot of bicycle parts and some welding and has a nice ground clearance.

 

chick on a mountain bike, the only one of the day on such a bike.

 

 

 

impression of speed, but to be honest I was toying with slow shutter speed, like half a second here. So by following the rider’s movement, the back ground looks very blurry and “speedy”.

 

the smart clowns…But except for the 2 passengers on one bike, similar scene could be spotted in the West, huh? Sunglasses in the darkness, like in discos? Sport gear with non matching shoes?

 

family trip, the second kid is really squeezed in. And for once the woman here sits like a man, not riding sidesaddle.

 

 

and the real novelty was to see women, even mamas, on motorbikes! Quite a lot in fact. Whereas I have seen some women on bicycles in Tanzania, I’m still waiting for the day to spot one on a motorbike!

 

street life in Lira, Uganda

no need to make a a plan to visit Lira. Not much found when I did some research before going there, and I confirm that. Luckily I can enjoy doing pictures, taking some notes, checking the differences with Tanzania, maybe some drawings next time.

 

man selling ‘kanga’ or ‘kikoi’, a local pareo, multipurpose thing in east Africa.

 

local shop, typical in east Africa too: the ads are painted. Few posters…

 

 

curious ad, a beer company to congratulate so called honest men. Ugandans must laugh at this.

 

another one: Lira doesn’t even have a decent bar apparently, and the ad show night clubbers that are only likely to be found in Kampala. Well, never underestimate marketing people, they’d sell ice fridge to Inuits…

 

family trip in all safety…

 

even better, sending a sms…

 

colors…

 

 

 

nearly primary colors…

more pictures of me, Mom will be happy…

 

 

ask a Masai who has never touched a camera to frame and shoot…I discovered later that the jewels were more important than my artistic conceptions: that strip of metal had to be seen. Funny he? Pininyi, lake Natron.

 

 

a trek in that wonderful gorge with many waterfalls in Ngaresero, near lake Natron again.

 

Ngaresero airtrip, camping for 2 nights. My friend and I had rented the plane for 4 days. Quite a nice feeling to “own” the plane for ourselves.

last day, another trek in Ngoveroni, another airstrip a bit further, near the volcano Oldoynio Lengai.

 

back from a weekend on mountain bikes across the savannah. The truck carried the tents, the food, etc.

 

being fed coconut flesh.

 

 

I’m not really a beach bum but once in a while…Pangani, on the Indian Ocean.

 

that smart guy found a way to rest by having me to work, with the excuse to give me a navigation lesson….

Pangani River at the mouth to the Ocean, with all the camping gear, training for the 6 month bicycle trip across Africa a few months later.

 

filling with water in some village on the way back to Arusha.

on a safari in the Serengeti.

 

see you in a few days, I’m off to Uganda again.

some pictures of me for a change

 

this post should have been posted yesterday…

 

in April ‘99 I arrived in Kenya, knocking on doors for a job. Kenya was by then the cheapest air fare to hit Africa. With no contact, better spend the minimum on travels. I spent  a few weeks in Nairobi Wilson, a busy airport. Visiting airplanes and dreaming like on board of this vintage Dakota DC3.

 

in June ‘99, I got my first “job”, more a commitment as I was volunteering for Flying Medical Service. Here I am for some of the best years in my life, sitting on the wing of a Cessna 206, the equivalent of a Land Rover, near the Serengeti

 

though the pilots were just the flying ambulance drivers, we gave some help to the nurses or doctors, like giving injections.

 

colleagues….

 

wonderful country to ride through. A few bruised ribs here and there though…

 

 

trekking on Longido mountain. Though I’m no fan of taking a Masai guide or 2 along, sometimes there is no choice.

 

 

a baobab tree.

 

somewhere on Mt Meru slopes, checking the bruise after a fall I guess

 

 

they said it was a good path and I had no machete…

 

on a mobile clinic tour in Pininyi, near lake Natron.  Quite a remote place, here discussing with the chief of the village.

 

 

a polio campaign had been organised by the WHO, we were helping with the aircraft.

mount Meru again…

 

view from Oldoinyo Sambu, the bush north, north west of Arusha

 

 

aerial view, some snow or hail after a storm on Meru. Kilimanjaro in the distance.

 

early morning, fog and clouds dissipating over Arusha. That big white building in a shape of triangle is the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), that’s the place where my chick spends and works too many hours.

 

 

 

 

bad weather.

 

 

2 views from the south east. Meru used to be much higher when an eruption made it collapse. The circular remaining ridge is visible here.

 

Meru facing sunset.

 

 

 

 

 

I love this: taking off in crappy weather and after 10 min, I leave the Earthlings below and I enjoy the sun..

 

 

Mount Meru, the mountain overlooking Arusha

 

I can moan about many things in this world, but I’m also able to enjoy what I get. I have days of boring flights of course, days where I wish I could fly cargo only or even better just empty and light to have fun with the aircraft. But this country, with all its annoying factors, has an incredible scenery amongst other things. Some expats here have lived in the country and hardly left Arusha, went maybe once for an easy safari, brought a few pictures so they can brag “been there, done that” but have spent the rest of their time moaning about the bad roads, the corrupt cops, the delays and the rest, let’s stay politically correct. Their experience will be pretty negative…We could argue that if the colonial times had been a bit different and since then, the bloody IMF or World Bank a lot different, things could be much better. Now these expats, and I’m one of them of course, have their reasons to complain. But let’s make the best out of it. These stories will be present for the rest of our lives like army stories, so let’s make more stories to remember, positive ones this time. And that’s valid in many countries. Like: go on safari more often, or just for a picnic, go for a walk around Arusha, get your drawing kit or your camera or just your fresh eyes and see, and enjoy what you see. I have a privilege being a pilot: I see a lot. And I love it. Though some flights are only worth of one image sometimes.

Towering at nearly 15000 feet (4500m), here are a few images of Mt Meru, near Arusha. One of the top 5 highest mountains in Africa.

Arusha spreading at its foot, and high up too unfortunately, destroying the old forest and habitat…demographic pressure as usual.

 

 

driving a bit further from Arusha…and it looks remote very quickly.

 

some views of the top under different light or weather conditions.

 

 

 

 

once in a while a storm will whiten the top. It doesn’t last long unfortunately.

 

aerial shot: the dark hills on the foreground are parts of Mt Monduli. Then Meru in the middle. Kilimanjaro in the distance.

 

sunrise shot from the top of the volcano Oldoinyo Lengai, after a night climb. What a reward to arrive a bit exhausted on top around 6am and view this scenery. Kilimanjaro on the left side, Meru on the right side.

 

 

 

 

one  early morning, getting ready for paragliding.

 

 

just before sunset, after a thunderstorm.

 

“better a bad day of flying than a good day in the office”…just making some friends.

cloud reflection in lake Manyara

 

it’s the rainy season in Tanzania, not a major one unfortunately for the people. But for pilots, at least for the few who can enjoy a scenery, the show can be incredible. The visibility is perfect, up to 150 miles sometimes and the clouds have smoked LSD sometimes. Yesterday I was overflying lake Manyara near Arusha where the latest rains have easily filled up the shallow lake. Some clouds were perfectly reflecting in the lake, like cotton balls. The surface of the water was glassy which, over a larger surface, can make things tricky by eliminating the regular landmarks thanks to a mirror effect. One would look down and see clouds and blue sky. It could give the feeling to fly upside down. When I was learning to fly a seaplane some years back, I experienced that phenomenon a few times. Coming low for landing on a lake outside Yosemite and not seeing the water level below my wings, just looking at the sky in the “mirror”. Luckily there are some procedures to land safely nevertheless but it was a weird feeling. Same situation when the water is crystal clear and there is no wind. You just see the bottom of the lake and have no clue where the water line is. That seaplane…one of my best flying memory! Imagine the Yosemite area and flying freely, near huge cliffs, waterfalls, flying in narrow steep canyons, landing on rivers or lakes under the curses of the fishermen of course. One of these landings was particularly sweet: the approach was to be made in a tight canyon without seeing the landing spot till the last 10 sec, just after a last 90° turn. There was always the surprise to see a bloody fisherman on “my” landing spot of course. Too bad on one occasion I didn’t have the instructor’s approval to scare the fisherman enough to make him dive in the water…but I’ve been flying alone a lot in this country! Poor Masai…though some deserved to bite the dust after the low fly by when they were obstructing the airstrip.

anyway back on lake Manyara just before sunset.

 

      

 

 

towards the sun, the cloud reflection in the foreground, lake Eyasi shining in the distance.

 

     

 

 

flying away from lake Manyara (the flat shiny spot on the left)

 

talking about perfect visibility, the triangle is the famous volcano Oldoinyo Lengai at 100km or so.

pruning a tree in Tanzania

 

there a huge tree in the garden, growing in all directions. The branches kill the light to the house, engulf the power cables, touch our roof and the neighbor’s. Though for a tree touching 2 roofs at the same time is no big deal in TZ as the builders and architects have that weird and despicable habit of building houses 2 meters away from side walls or hedges but leaving up to 30m of empty garden in front. The windows on that side are just unusable. Not only that, in our house, the space between the hedge and the wall is bigger on the garage side than on the bedroom side!!

anyway we finally(!) got the 2 guys to take care of the tree. They refused our saw, preferring their machetes, only borrowing the blade sharpener and the ladder from us. I was surprised: it’s not uncommon at all to have to provide tools to the workers, like a jack and spanner when you have a flat tyre. They even brought a long thick rope. Great I thought, they’re concerned about their safety high up there. Hmmm not really, the rope is only there to control the cut off branches on the way down. I must say I was a bit nervous to see the guy climbing up the tree, bare feet with the machete in his teeth. To see him at work was not better feeling. I always thought he was in unstable position. The machete is an impressive tool. I realised I had been totally ignorant to offer the saw…sooo much quicker with the machete. No wonder the Rwandan genocide had been so efficient. initially Karine was a bit uneasy when she arrived here. Her job is all about the Rwanda genocide at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and here we are, in Tanzania with many people casually walking in the streets with machetes held in hands. And I’m not even talking about Masai or other tribal people, these have spears, clubs, sticks and their own knives. The formers are just gardeners.

in the end, the tree is now well pruned, all cleared around, the guys are safe, they only trashed one power cable and the flowers underneath the tree. Not too bad really. Light comes in the house, though still not enough but that is because of the weird concept of the house, again. Small windows made of tiny pieces of glass held together by thick posts or heavy metal frames, add a large roof with thick posts again for the verandah…. Good combination to kill the light. National disease again as if the locals were hating the sun and the light…I visited and envied my friends’ house last week, they built their house with their own specifications and in the bedroom for instance, 3 walls are totally covered by large windows!

and some pictures during the rainy season…

 

 

 

an early biker and Mount Meru

 

 

Mount Kilimanjaro

 

some of the numerous hills around Arusha.

 

 

I just love clouds…

 

sunset on lake Manyara. The orange little bright spot is a reflection on the water.

life is good

 

I know the general mood might be the opposite these months …but what can I say? I sold another picture last week, a magazine has urgently asked to publish my pictures of the volcano Lengai again. That is some the ones I’ve posted a few days ago. Even though this is for scientific purpose, and so no profit is to be made, it is still a great joy to see my pictures published. And nevertheless I’ve wasted my Sunday yesterday because of the flight cancelation, I am now home to prepare these 6 pictures.

scientists have answered my questions. I was puzzled by the ash layers being so bright and clean, devoid of any vegetation. It had happened last year that ash would be recovered by grass within a few days after the rains. But nowadays, we are talking about an old layer that got compacted by it own weight, that got thicker and undisturbed by rains for a long time. So vegetation has no easy time to grow through. It will take some years to disappear and prevent people to graze their cows. I need to take some days off there with Karine. Camping is gorgeous in this area. No chance to climb the volcano though. It looks like nobody has been able to climb in lately…

 

and life at time of the picture looked good for these people too, though it probably ain’t easy every day…

 

old Masai, Njurlan, lake Natron. “Nobody enjoys life more than an old man” I read once.

 

 

when I have a flat tyre, I’m not that happy usually…Chem Chem, near lake Eyasi.

 

the lady was proud to show me her decorated hut…this kind of wall paper is common here though the style might vary. Here it looks like she glued on any kind of newspapers she could grab. But young girls or women closer to modern towns would choose nice pictures about glamorous models, fashion adverts on jewels, haircuts, dresses…and hardly one square inch would be left untouched.

 

 

still Chem Chem, which means fountain, another woman who was so pleased I chose to shoot her. And not the jealous neighbors. Maybe she’ll become known as “one the few where the white man stopped”…

I’m trying to imagine a remote village in Belgium, you know where not much happens, and to be sure that nothing that might happen will be missed, old ladies stay all day long at the doorstep or behind the window scanning the street. You get it? Sure any country is affected by this kind of natural born spy-gossiper. Well imagine if a Masai were to stop at such a place and visit one household. Guaranteed the story will last for ever with referenceq like : “the year the Masai visited the village”, “it was when the Masai visited my house (and incidentally not yours, you jealous cow)”… I know, I’ve lived in such a village as a teen. There was that sweet old lady who never understood how I could see and waved at her through the curtain. I knew she was always there hiding, spying, criticizing, taking notes. She even had the pisspot nearby I guess so to miss nothing. I took great joy to wave at her though I couldn’t see her, to make her believe she was not so hidden. She never understood the whole village knew she was spying. She was probably the one who reported me whenever I brought girls home. Shocking! Nothing ever happens in those villages…I had joined the Air Force and my father became known as the guy whose son is a pilot (nevertheless I wouldn’t start flying for more than year).

And funny enough, a Tanzanian woman only gets a respectful status when she finally gives birth to a child, preferably a son. And then, in some tribes, she will be only referred as the mother of …whatever the baby’s name is! Weird huh?

 

water…priceless to make your day. 20 lt bucket…that is 20 kg! Loliondo, northern Serengeti.

 

 

lucky village with a decent water pump.  

 

 

 

 

 

grocery’s in lake Natron area.

 

and more smiles in Zanzibar below, 2 sisters and Spiderman.

 

 

 

life is good for this happy couple…but the driver might think he’d be better be off somewhere else. NYC.

more thoughts about Tanzania

 

for those of you who know me, you know that some of my fuses are pretty short…but I managed to keep one under control today. Take off was planned at 3pm to go to Dar es Salaam for 2 days. Not that I wanted to go to Dar but to hear at 15h30 (which was near the latest time to take off and reach Dar before sunset anyway) the cancelation of the flight, that is somehow lack of respect. Haouuuum…. I hate to waste my precious time, specially on a Sunday when I could have done things with my chick, “sieste crapuleuse” amongst various options…

I’m kind of in charge of everything about the aircraft. Only one plane, it would have been weird to hire an aviation manager or a chief-pilot. So here I am. I’m not too keen I must say. 5 weeks ago I started some correspondence with the various civil aviation authorities, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. What a nightmare…worse than our clowns in Belgium. Quite a feat I tell you. In turn when my bosses have asked me to start an air taxi company here, it didn’t help and I just refused. Not my cup of tea anywhere anyway, but even less here, not within my skills range either. I also came here to fly and enjoy life, not to be trapped in a bloody office all day…

but I hate to have a boss too. The Belgian Air Force spotted that in me when we were being assessed to be fighter pilots and incidentally officers. I only wanted to fly the hot stuff like the F16. So my problem with authority was quite obvious, I couldn’t stick or see the importance of protocol and those things, I couldn’t play the game. Here in Tanzania on the other hand, protocol, hierarchy, bureaucracy…have been instilled in a strong way, a superb example of brainwashing (still with an original touch though) that would make many propagandists jealous. One day I had pretended to moon a controller after an argument where he had called me stupid white man. On my way out of the airport, I was kind of arrested by a cop. Not charged but firmly asked to follow to the police station. I kept on grilling the cop and he finally admitted that the controller used to be a colonel and so he couldn’t say no to his request! Splendid example of abuse of power. Finally I walked out, quite puzzled by that.

paperwork is taken very seriously at any level. The lucky businessmen who provide paper to administrations are wealthy here too.

cops are corrupt here, a pretty understatement, but…the cops would stop a car and try to see anything wrong, or let’s say unusual, like my back window broken and threaten to send the matter to court or try to extort money on false safety pretenses. A minimum of common sense allows anybody to rebuke them but they keep on trying, maybe some new expats might get scared. Or they pretend that my Land Rover green roof is illegal because the color on the jeep papers say “white” and so I should have had the papers modified. It would be the same for some colored stripes on the flanks of cars. I’ve allowed myself a strong “fuck you” on the green roof issue and I sped off. James Brown’s “Feel Good” came to my mind.

Not only that cops are corrupt, they sometimes do extra hours with their friends the thieves. One day my bike was stolen from Karine’s car. Luckily the shop assistant had warned me on time so I ran after the thief, ready to make some cosmetic surgery on him: the moron had chosen an uphill road to escape, trying to jump on the bicycle was not convenient! There are thieves so stupid they really deserve a serious beating. Unfortunately he heard me catching up so he dropped the bike and ran away. I came  back to the shop, Karine was busy talking to a cop who was refusing to give his ID and trying to walk away. Obviously he hadn’t helped us at all and was now embarrassed to be confronted, in front of a growing crowd. I just seized his hat while we called other cops and the UN security for Karine. In no time there are hundreds of people around laughing and curious to see what’s going to happen between a pissed off white guy and the cops. And in no time again, 15 cops were around us, all kind of uniforms or civilian clothes, some in jeep, some on motorbike, with shotguns, Kalashnikovs, helmets, bulletproof jackets and all. Great mobilization…they didn’t like me saying it would be nice to see such energy and availability when citizens (specially white) call them. But to protect one of their them…in the end we had to let it go, though we had learnt that our cop was not on duty that day! We could have put this rotten cop in deep shit, but at what costs for us? Incredible waste of time and energy…I should have done my moral duty but that is beyond my reach. The shop keeper told us that her and competitors hate these crooked cops and thieves who develop a ring around the shops and scare people away. Not good for business!

and lynching by the crowd or having a tire put on fire around the neck when caught stealing is not uncommon in these countries…and cops would pretend they arrived too late to prevent the action. Less paperwork and concern with a dead body than a wounded prisoner. Jails are overcrowded anyway. Better save the taxpayers’ money, right?

some thoughts about Tanzania

 

nothing philosophical, don’t worry. But Tanzania can be a dream for the journalists and other storytellers.

last week, an ammunition depot exploded in Tanzania. Ok it could happen anywhere you think. Yes but this one was located in Dar es Salaam! Not in some remote countryside base. I have just met a guy whose house was 5 km away from the blast. Not one window has survived. All the big buildings have been officially evacuated within 10km or so, for fear of structural damage. People died though it is not clear how many yet. Kids have drowned while running away and crossing a river. Hundreds have been wounded. Shantytowns have been flattened. Traffic jams were worse than ever. People thought that there was another terrorist attack like the one in 98 against the US embassy…total chaos. Even my boss had called me to be ready to go and rescue his family with the airplane in case. Everybody tends to laugh at the bright idea to set a huge ammunition depot in a big city. Some justify that the depot was there before the city expansion…but the military could have moved it without fuss. Similar case in Lagos, Nigeria with more than 1000 dead, and Maputo, Mozambique. It reminds me of my aeroclub in Belgium located on an airport near a hospital. When I say near, it means near: 2 miles, just under the final path for landing. The hospital and the by-then grass airfield for biplanes started together. Nobody could foresee the era of airliners…and now nobody wants to move either, expanding instead. But the Tanzanian defense minister has finally decided to get rid of that depot. It’s like closing the doors when the horse has petered out of the barn.

this is the rainy season, the tracks get muddy and I come home after a bicycle ride all dirty and muddy. Karine still fails to understand why I’m happy I’m afraid. “If your knees are not dirty by the end of the day, you have to reconsider your life” says Calvin to Hobbes. I guess I mentioned that once already…today I couldn’t legally take off on the C206 because of the weather, low overcast, poor visibility and drizzle. Not a big deal but regulations on some type of airplanes are unfortunately what they are, constraining and they change from one country to the next. American rules still being the best of all. When I hear an American pilot complaining about his administration, I want to kick him hard in the bum to make him land in F..Europe and discover our wonderful administrations, any kind. Maybe some punk from the Belgian, or Tanzanian or similar country, air ministry will read this and think about it.

and tomorrow, off to Dar es Salaam, for 2 days! Aaarghh…better take my watercolors with me and sit on the harbor, spot a dhow or something….

back from Uganda, volcano Oldoinyo Lengai

 

I had said the other day the rainy season was more beautiful to fly in than the dry season, although these rains can make a flight difficult …look at the clouds and the light around the volcano!

 

 

this ash layer is just the old layer that doesn’t go off as fast as I had expected, according to my scientist friends.

 

 

 

 

we’ll go to Uganda once or twice a month apparently. That will give me more chances to see the volcano again or the lake Natron which is also on the way. Happy for thatn as natron is my favorite spot in the country.

Lira, central Uganda

 

Chinese and Indian motorbikes are invading Africa. Cheaper than the Japanese ones, but probably not as reliable, specially if treated ‘à la sauce africaine’. Having said that, the Chinese made rough copies of the famous black Dutch bicycle, more basic but very sturdy and are doing a good job in Africa.

 

 

 

 

common scenery in Africa, women carrying burden on the head. Africans tend to laugh at white people carrying backpacks. They say their way is much more convenient. And I admit I’ve one search medical research approving this statement.

 

the caption on the plastic bag says “have a good day”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

lake Kyoga.

the green yellow stuff is water hyacinth as explained the other day

 

 

 

 

Entebbe airport, on final of runway 17, surrounded by the water of lake Victoria. That black stuff on the right of the picture is one propeller blade. If the shutter speed is fats enough, the blade can be caught on the picture. But under some combinations of shutter speed and propeller speed, the blade appears distorted.

 

bikers and soldiers in Uganda

 

yesterday I said that there were a few differences between Uganda  and Tanzania, one being the taxi-bicycles. Here is one below.

  

the difference with a regular bike is the fat cushion on the back rack, with fringes sometimes, like the red ones here. Design maybe, or to prevent clothes to get stuck in the spokes? Poor guys…here is a normal passenger but some can real big, or carrying kids and supplies.

 

 

2 kids on the rack .

 

  

 

 

colorful mama.

 

 

typically strapped kid on the mom’s back. Cheaper than all the prams we have in the West. Bloody  bullshitter marketing people…

 

 

a mattress…maybe his wife kicked him out.

 

taxi with cushion and fringes but no picture please!

 

curious kids and taxi-motorbike

 

 

pajamas?

 

loads and loads again.

 

bikes or motorbikes made taxi were forbidden for female passengers in some state in Nigeria, Kano maybe, because it was considered too promiscuous by the religious authorities. I try hard to be tolerant but my limits are reached sometimes….

 

But the surprise of the day was this soldier, we had asked for some watchman for the night, so I expected a poor guy with a machete who would spend the night sleeping anyway. And I get this soldier with a proper clean uniform, shiny boots, a knife in his belt, a submachine gun (M80) and enough ammunitions to hold a siege. Plus a Kalashinok I initially thought but it belonged to a colleague, so there were 2 guards for that little plane! Wow….I know this area used to be a stronghold of the infamous Lord’s Resistance Army, a bunch of bloodthirsty criminals who killed, raped, mutilated, enslaved children, tortured …as much as they could but pretended to act on god’s behalf of course. Nothing new there. They’ve now been pushed to the border to the north but haven’t changed their behaviour. So maybe no wonder the soldiers still take the job seriously.

 

 

well up to a point because the colleague, in rubber boots, so much for the uniform, came back, they started to harass this poor guy,

 

 

and when he couldn’t pay…

 

they took him away for further “questioning”.

lake Victoria and other lakes

 

that flight that passed the volcano Oldoinyo Lengai happened on my way to Entebbe in Uganda. The Serengeti was pretty dull under a heavy layer of clouds, so no pictures there. But lake Victoria was more dramatic thanks to stormy weather conditions. This huge lake is divided between 3 countries, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. Electric thunderstorms are here amongst the worst in the world they say. It reminded me that we have no life jackets on board yet and in turn crossing such an expanse of water on one engine is not the smartest things to do…can’t wait to receive those jackets.

 

many islands near Entebbe.

 

  

dark clouds all around but not ahead of me.

 

 

 

a tiny island cut in 2 by an airstrip.

 

Entebbe is a big airport. In ‘76, Idi Amin Dada sought to be smart by giving shelter to Palestinian terrorists who had hijacked an airliner. The Israeli special forces didn’t hesitate nor waste too much time to sort out the release of their fellow passengers and others with a minimum of losses on their side. The Ugandan army on the other hand lost quite a lot in the intervention: soldiers, aircraft, material and …pride.

There are a lot of Russian aircraft there. It is beautifully located on a peninsula near the capital Kampala. Bloody fuel companies refuse to take cash for fuel! Credit cards or prior payment on their account. Absolutely not convenient, very stupid way to do business. Thanks, Shell.

 

 

on our way to Lira, central Uganda, former stronghold of the blood-thirsty rebel Lord Resistance Army, we crossed vast empty expanses of land till we arrived at lake Kyoga. More settlements are spread on the lake shores. Beautiful lake made of many bays and twisted peninsulas. It looks like a giant piece of puzzle. I have to recheck my knowledge about the Nile and all those early explorers, Speke, Burton…the Nile starts in this country, lake Victoria from the Ripon Falls.

 

that greenish layer is probably some water hyacinth, like on Victoria, a nuisance than slowly kills marine life by depleting the oxygen level.

 

 

 

sun reflection. Can you see a profile on the right side?

 

 

Lira, a poor area with not much to do in term of entertainment. So I watched the local life, checking the differences with Tanzania. A lot of women on bicycles for one. One out of 3 cyclists was a woman. Rare in Tanzania. Another difference was many taxi-bicycles around.

3 on a bicycle is the norm

 

churches all over. I tend to dislike what missionaries have been doing for centuries…but they were good at it, weren’t they? To manage to convince tribes that there was only one god…and oh yes, by the way Jesus and Mary and the clique are all Swedish type. This is a good way to built an inferiority complex I’d say.

 

 

manned phone booth, though the guy must have been asleep somewhere.

Volcano Oldoinyo Lengai

 

it had been a long time since last time I saw that volcano from close. I’ve seen it a few times lately because the rains have put the dust down and in turn improved greatly the visibility. So on my way to Entebbe, Uganda, I was lucky to see the volcano clear of clouds. I expected some changes and finally there is hardly any. The ashes are still there like brand new. I’ll have to double check with the other pilots but none seemed to have reported any activity. The rains would normally wash out the ashes, allow the grass to grow back quickly and make the landscape green…

 

 

 

the top is still the same, I would have bet the wind and rains had erased the soft rim…

 

 

 

the bottom of the crater has kept the same depth, just some new vents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ashes around are quite spread out, up to 10 km I’d say.

 

anyway the highlight of the flight! really happy to have again around that volcano.